Interaction between computers and users has been facilitated through the use of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) which allow a user to manipulate icons on a computer display to communicate commands to the computer. Icons are typically manipulated with a pointing device which may be used to select, move and otherwise manipulate icons or portions thereof through various clicking, dragging, dropping and similar actions.
Icons may be tailored to visually represent the applications to which they are associated or various functions thereof. Generally, an icon's visual representation is designed to invoke a pre-disposed association between the icon and the associated application. For example, an icon depicting a pen or sheet of paper may be associated with a word processing application, an icon depicting a grid may be associated with a spreadsheet application or an icon depicting a painter's palette or brush may be associated with a graphics program.
Icons may also be tailored to represent documents. An example of this is the ubiquitous “thumbnail” icon which is a miniature or reduced image of a page of the document or file itself. This thumbnail icon scheme may be used to represent graphics files as well as text, spreadsheet or other documents. Users familiar with the documents can easily distinguish one icon from another and select the desired document. Known thumbnail icon methods work well with single-page documents when the thumbnail is an accurate representation of the entire document, however these methods fall short when used with multiple-page documents where multiple page identification and modification are advantageous.
Some GUI methods employ multiple-page icons which represent each page of a document in an offset stack or pile. These methods utilize an icon which offers a full, though reduced size, view of one page of a document at the top of a stack and a partial view of the edges of succeeding pages lower in the stack. These methods allow for limited manipulation and viewing of pages by known point and click techniques. Document pages may be brought to the top of the stack by selection of their edges and pages may be viewed once they are brought to the top of the stack by selection of the top page.
While these multi-page icon methods offer some utility in viewing and ordering a document, their limited functionality precludes complex modification of documents. A method and system which provides for complex page ordering, file creation, page deletion and organizational and functional aids through an intuitive, multi-page icon would be advantageous.